Plastic storage containers, such as the well-known Tupperware® brand containers, are widely used. These containers typically have a grooved plastic lid which is sealable over a lip on a plastic bowl. Similar plastic lids are used on non-plastic containers as well since the plastic lids can readily be formed to sealingly engage the upper lips of containers. As a result, many kitchens contain a plethora of plastic lids of various sizes and shapes. These plastic container lids are awkward to store since they are not conveniently storable when mated with their matching containers, which matching containers are commonly stored in a nested configuration without their lids. Such plastic container lids are also difficult to wash using an automatic dishwasher because they tend to move around or separate from the racks within a dishwasher during a washing cycle. Thus, when hit by the streams of water from the jets found in modern automatic dishwashers, movement of the plastic container lids results in uneven cleaning and damage to the plastic container lids particularly if the plastic container lids come in contact with the dishwasher heating element.
There have been numerous attempts to develop improved systems for storing plastic container lids. Some of such attempts to develop improved systems for storing plastic container lids are shown in U.S. Patents Des. 252,440 issued Jul. 24, 1979 to William P. Hamilton; Des. 401,811 issued Dec. 1, 1998 to Helen Hait; Des. 411,783 issued Jul. 6, 1999 to Frances Kualaau; U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,326 issued Mar. 19, 1991 to Richard C. Vaughn; U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,334 issued May 4, 1993 to John E. Lear; U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,029 issued Sep. 6, 1994 to Ann T. Oghia, et al; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,284 issued Aug. 26, 1997 to Richard C. Vaughn. While a variety of techniques for storing plastic container lids have been disclosed in these references, none of the devices disclosed in these references address the difficult problem of cleaning soiled plastic container lids.